Before their Diaspora, part 2 - November 99

Nov 1999 From Jerusalem Culture Articles Pictures Readers Mail		Before Their Diaspora
		By: Walid Kalidi
		PART 2

		CHRONOLOGY

		1876 Ottoman constitution promulgated. 1876-1877 first Ottoman Parliament convenes in Constantinople; first Palestinian deputies from Jerusalem elected to this Parliament. 1878 Petah Tikva, first Zionist colony, established in Palestine. 1881 November: Ottoman government announces permission for foreign (non-Ottoman) Jews to settle throughout Ottoman Empire excluding Palestine. 1882 Baron Edmund D. Rothschild of Paris begins financial backing of Jewish colonization in Palestine. First wave of Zionist mass immigration to Palestine begins. Jewish population of Palestine numbers 24,000. July: Ottoman government adopts policy allowing Jewish Pilgrims and businessman to visit Palestine but not to settle there. December: Ottoman government informs Jewish leadership and Constantinopel that it views Zionist, colonization in Palestine as political problem. 1884 March: Ottoman government decides to close Palestine to foreign (non-Ottoman) Jewish businessmen but not to Jewish Pilgrims. 1888 May: European powers pressure Ottoman government to allow foreign (non-Ottoman) Jews to set on Palestine provided they do so singly and not en masse. 1891 German Jewish millionaire Baron Maurice de Hirsch founds Jewish colonization Association (JCA). Ottoman sultan Abd-al Hamid II expresses fears that granting Ottoman nationality to Jewish immigrants in Palestine "may result in the creation of the Jewish government in Jerusalem". 1892 November: Ottoman government for bid sale of state land to foreign (non-Ottoman) Jews in Palestine. 1893 April: the European powers pressure Ottoman government to permit Jews legally resident in Palestine to buy land provided they establish no colonies on it. 1896 JCA begins operations in Palestine. Publication of Der Judenstaat, by Hungarian Zionist leader Theodore Herzl, advocating creation of Jewish state in Argentina or Palestine. Abd-al Hamid rejects Herzel's proposal that Palestine be granted to the Jews: "I cannot give away any part of it (the empire)�..I will not agree to vivisection". 1897 Commission headed by Mohammed Tahir al-Husseini, mufti (highest Muslim religious dignitary) of Jerusalem, appointed to scrutinize Zionists land-acquisition methods. August: first Zionist Congress, convening in Basel, Switzerland, issues Basel program on colonization of Palestine and establishment of World Zionist Organization (WZO). In response to first Zionist Congress, Abd-al Hamid II initiates policy of sending members of his own Palace staff to govern province of Jerusalem. 1898 Arabic press reacts to first Zionist Congress. Cairo Journal al-Manar warns that Zionism aims to take possession of Palestine. Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany visits Jerusalem. 1899 October: Albert Antebi, JCA representative in Jerusalem, observes that program of first Zionist Congress has adversely affected relations between Palestinians and Jewish immigrants. March 19: Herzl sends letter to Palestinian mayor of Jerusalem hinting that, if Zionists are not welcome in Palestine, they will go elsewhere. 1900 ICA takes responsibility for colonies supported by Baron de Rothschild. June: Ottoman government sends Commission of inquiry to Palestine to study implications of Zionist mass immigration and land acquisition. 1901 Pressured by European powers, Ottoman government allows foreign 9non-Ottoman) Jews to buy land in northern Palestine. Keren Kayemeth (Jewish National Fund) founded as land-acquisition organ of WZO; land acquired by JNF in Palestine to be inalienably Jewish, and exclusively Jewish labor to be employed on it. January: Ottoman restrictions on Zionist immigration to and land acquisition in Jerusalem District take affect. May: Administrative council of Jerusalem strongly objects to JCA's attempts at acquiring land in Jerusalem district. July: Palestinian peasants in region of Tiberius expressed alarm at extent of Zionist land acquisition. 1902 January: Al-Manar warns that Zionists seeks national sovereignty in Palestine. February: JCA representative Antebi observes that "the ill will of the local population coincides with the creation of Zionism". 1903 Second wave of Zionist mass immigration to Palestine begins. December: Anglo-Palestine Company (APC), subsidiary of JCA, established in Palestine to finance Zionists colonization. 1904 July: Death of Theodore Herzl. August-September: Tensions develop between Zionist colonists and Palestinian farmers in region of Tiberius. 1905 Publication of Le Reveil de la Nation Arabe, by Negib Azoury, warning of Zionist political aims in Palestine. 1907 first kibbutz, based on exclusively Jewish labor, established. August: report issued by Ottoman Governor of Jerusalem on Zionist evasion of Ottoman immigration and land-transfer regulations. 1908 Palestinian deputies from Jerusalem, Jaffa, Nablus, and Acre elected to Ottoman parliament of 1908 in Constantinople. Palestinian journal al-Karmil founded in Haifa with purpose of opposing Zionists colonization. March 16: clash between Zionist immigrants and Palestinians in Jaffa results in one Palestinian dead and 13 Jews wounded. July 24: beginning of "Young Turks" Revolution Constantinople. 1909 Tel Aviv founded north of Jaffa. February-April: renewed tensions and clashes between Zionists Colonists Palestinian farmers near Nazareth. June: Zionist issue raised the first time in Ottoman Parliament by Palestinian Deputy from Jaffa. July: five members of Ottoman Parliament, including Palestinian Deputy from Jerusalem, meet with British Zionist leader Sir Francis Montefiore in London to voice their concern about political objectives of Zionism. 1910 Arabic newspapers in Beirut, Damascus, and Haifa expressed opposition to Zionist land acquisition in Palestine. June: Deputies in Ottoman Parliament from Arab provinces request assurances from Ottoman Minister of interior against Zionist land acquisition policies in Palestine. 1911 Palestinian journalist Najib Nassar publishes first book in Arabic on Zionism, entitled Zionism: Its history, Objective and Importance. January: Palestinian newspaper Falistan begins to appear; "addressing its readers as Palestinians," it warns them about consequences of Zionist colonization. January-February: European powers pressure Ottoman government to allow Zionist land acquisition in Palestine. March-April: Arab deputies from Jerusalem, Beirut, and Damascus lobby in Ottoman Parliament for legislation against Zionist mass immigration to Palestine. April: In telegram to Constantinople, 150 Palestinians from Jaffa demand measures against Zionist mass immigration and land acquisition. May 16: 2 Jerusalem deputies opened first full-scale debate in Ottoman Parliament on Zionism, charging that Zionist aim is to create Jewish State in Palestine. 1912 Palestinian deputies from to Jerusalem, Gaza, Nablus, and Acre elected to Ottoman parliament of 1912. January: European powers renew pressure on Ottoman government to facilitate Zionist land acquisition in Palestine. 1913 January: Palestinian contributor to Falistin writes: "The Zionists will gain mastery over our country village by village, town by town." 1914 August 1: Outbreak of World War I. 1915 July 14: correspondence between Sharif Hussein of Mecca and Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner in Egypt, begins. August: Jemal Pasha, Ottoman military governor, hangs 11 Arab Nationalist in Beirut. 1916 January 30: Hussein-McMahon correspondence concludes; Arabs understand it as ensuring postwar independence and unity of Arab provinces of Ottoman Empire, including Palestine. May: Jemal Pasha hangs 21 Arab leaders and intellectuals, including two Palestinians, in Beirut and Damascus. May 16: Signing of secret Sykes-Picot agreement dividing Arab provinces of Ottoman Empire between Britain and France. June: Sharif Hussein proclaims Arab independence from Ottoman rule on basis of his correspondence with McMahon. Arab revolt against constantinople begins. November: Sharif Hussein proclaimed "King of the Arab countries." 1917 November 2: British foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour sends letter to Baron Lionel Walter de Rothschild of pledging British support for establishment of Jewish national home in Palestine (Balfour Declaration). December 9: Surrender of Ottoman forces in Jerusalem to Allied forces under General Sir Edmund Allenby. 1918 September: Whole of Palestine occupied by Allied forces under General Allenby.

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